1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cutting and chamfering apparatus for opposing ends of a tubular member, and, more particularly, to an apparatus for cutting opposite ends of a tubular member precisely and promptly without producing scratches on the tubular member and chamfering the thus-cut end faces. This invention also relates to such an apparatus as mentioned above, which improves the yield of tubular members while promptly and completely removing chips or the like remaining in the tubular member.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been known to produce tubular members of zirconium, zirconium alloy or stainless steel with a mirror-finished surface free of any pits, ruggedness or uneveness by polishing both inner and outer surfaces of each tubular members after annealing and subjecting the tubular member to required treatment steps such as pickling treatment and rinsing treatment. In the final state of the production of such tubular members, a longer tubular member is cut a predetermined length and the thus-cut end faces are subjected to chamfering, followed by a final inspection step.
Upon carrying out the cutting work of both ends of the tubular member and subsequent chamfering work of the end faces in the final stage, if any damage has been unfortunately produced somewhere along the length of the tubular member, it is necessary to cut off an end portion containing the damaged portion. However, damage does not occur at any specific spot but tends to occur at scattered locations. Thus, if a tube end cutting machine is fixed with respect to the lengthwise direction of tubular member, the tubular member loaded on the cutting machine would be cut at a fixed place and many of the thus-cut tubular members would be found defective due to inclusion of one or more damaged portions, thereby resulting in a very poor production yield.
On the other hand, it is indispensable to hold a tubular material while cutting both end portions of the tubular member and chamfering the thus-cut end faces. It is especially required that this holding would not produce any scratches where the tubular member is made of zirconium or a zirconium alloy and requires very severe product quality.
Furthermore, the equipment is required to perform both cutting and chamfering work on tubular members of different lengths while meeting the desire for quickness of operation and strict maintenance of the quality which are mutually exclusive.